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Drying out a ding

I surf at least once almost everyday and it seems like I'm always patching one surfboard or another. I'm always dinging my boards, either surfing on 'em or just moving them around. I really need to break down and buy an epoxy board one of these days, Ill do it tomorrow, I swear. How long do any of you let your boards dry out for before patching them? I settled on 3 long ago, you know, because. Minutes, hours, days, years, etc.; 3. You?

...And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O LORD, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy." And the LORD did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large chu... And the LORD spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

depends on foam type and how bad the ding and how long exposed to water. i always test areas before fixing them feeling them pushing on them, poly usually 1 full day in to dry, eps i usually wait 3-7 days it has a tendency to absorb more water into the pours and retain it longer, just from my experience.

There is no one answer in terms of how long. Temp., humidity, time in the water... lots of factors.

If it happened as you were getting out, then it shouldn't have much water in it, right? An hour or two in the sun should be fine. If you just noticed it getting out, and it could have happened three hours ago in the water, you need to pick or cut out any broken and loose material, if there is any, and expose the foam to the air. The more surface area exposed, the faster and more thoroughly it will dry. If it's just a crack, that could have sucked in water, and left nothing exposed, it could take weeks or longer to fully dry.

Any time you find a ding after a session, suck as much water out as possible right away, before it continues to migrate through the foam. Let gravity do the work by putting it ding side down to help it drain. If it's a BIG ding, you can stuff a paper towel into it to sort of wick out some water too.

There is no one answer in terms of how long. Temp., humidity, time in the water... lots of factors.

If it happened as you were getting out, then it shouldn't have much water in it, right? An hour or two in the sun should be fine. If you just noticed it getting out, and it could have happened three hours ago in the water, you need to pick or cut out any broken and loose material, if there is any, and expose the foam to the air. The more surface area exposed, the faster and more thoroughly it will dry. If it's just a crack, that could have sucked in water, and left nothing exposed, it could take weeks or longer to fully dry.

Any time you find a ding after a session, suck as much water out as possible right away, before it continues to migrate through the foam. Let gravity do the work by putting it ding side down to help it drain. If it's a BIG ding, you can stuff a paper towel into it to sort of wick out some water too.